I issue a challenge to Muffet and Dawn

[01Neaggrad02]

Dearest Muffet and Dawn. Every year your two programs have been tops in the nation. You like to go out there and beat up on the little guy and puff out your chest and enter the tournament as a #1 seed. Yet you refuse to play one another. Why is that? UCONN played both of you along with Texas, Baylor, Maryland, Florida State, etc. How many of those programs did either of you play?

I challenge you to schedule one another..... to play a game in the regular season.....

Ideally playing one another will help both of your teams.... so what say you?

 

[bags27]

Do they "refuse to play one another" or just that they have such tough conference schedules and some traditional OC rivalries that they haven't got around to it? Do we know that there's either animosity or fear weighing here? Just curious.....

 

[UcMiami]

I agree but I do not limit it to Dawn and Muffett or to them playing each other, because they also don't play Baylor or Stanford, or Maryland, or Miss State, and those teams don't play each other either (most years.) I understand that these teams all play in P5 conferences, but with the exception of the Pac12 the last two years none of those P5 conferences are all that formidable, just as the OBE wasn't either. If you aspire to the FF and an NC, start playing games against similar teams OOC - and not just one, but two or three. TX stepped up this year and so did UCLA - it didn't hurt their seeding and it certainly didn't hurt their prep for the tournament.

 

[Wbbfan1]

Tara's press conference before today's game indicated she's willing to schedule ND, apparently ND isn't. Tara said ND's OOC Schedule is based on their recruiting. They go where recruits can see them play. There's so many great players in California, IMO all Elite Programs should schedule games in California. I'm sure UConn is on the schedule due to the National Exposure ND gets when they play UConn.

 

[BroadwayVa]

Dearest Muffet and Dawn. Every year your two programs have been tops in the nation. You like to go out there and beat up on the little guy and puff out your chest and enter the tournament as a #1 seed. Yet you refuse to play one another. Why is that? UCONN played both of you along with Texas, Baylor, Maryland, Florida State, etc. How many of those programs did either of you play?

I challenge you to schedule one another..... to play a game in the regular season.....

Ideally playing one another will help both of your teams.... so what say you?

A little credit for those that take on the beast year after year---many others walk away--as Baylor did last year--and jump on when they think Uconn has an OFF year (this year). Muffet has been with Uconn except for one year (I think when they moved from the BE to ACC. Regardless of their other OOC's they allowed UConn to beat them up year after year.

 

[McFly]

At first glance, I misread the topic as "challenge to Muffit at dawn", and conjured up images of Twinkies at ten paces.

 

[BroadwayVa]

Do they "refuse to play one another" or just that they have such tough conference schedules and some traditional OC rivalries that they haven't got around to it? Do we know that there's either animosity or fear weighing here? Just curious.....

The perception of the posting is that --those teams are the only ones going where they can find recruits---those with the money, and who can find WILLING opponents in untested areas--will all go to show their wares. Geno has tried to get games with everyone everywhere--he is usually unsuccessful because teams in those area's don't what the UConn brand to be seen.

 

[SCspur]

Dearest Muffet and Dawn. Every year your two programs have been tops in the nation. You like to go out there and beat up on the little guy and puff out your chest and enter the tournament as a #1 seed. Yet you refuse to play one another. Why is that? UCONN played both of you along with Texas, Baylor, Maryland, Florida State, etc. How many of those programs did either of you play?

I challenge you to schedule one another..... to play a game in the regular season.....

Ideally playing one another will help both of your teams.... so what say you?

I've wanted a home and home with them since they lucked up a win in the 2015 FF. Rumor has it Dawn tried to schedule a home and home last year and this year but Muffett denied it. I don't know why but my guess is she would rather play lesser teams. They only played rank teams at home this year. SC on the other hand doesn't mind playing some of the best we played Ohio St to start the season, Louisville, Texas, Duke, UCLA, and UCONN but I wouldn't mind seeing Baylor, Maryland, and ND on the schedule next year.

 

[Orangutan]

You like to go out there and beat up on the little guy and puff out your chest and enter the tournament as a #1 seed.

That's plainly false. ND had the #1 SOS by RPI and is top 10 in both Sagarin and Massey's SOS metrics.

Through yesterday, ND had played 12 games against the Sagarin top 25. South Carolina had played 13. And UConn? 11.

 

[UcMiami]

Tara's press conference before today's game indicated she's willing to schedule ND, apparently ND isn't. Tara said ND's OOC Schedule is based on their recruiting. They go where recruits can see them play. There's so many great players in California, IMO all Elite Programs should schedule games in California. I'm sure UConn is on the schedule due to the National Exposure ND gets when they play UConn.

Uh oh, Tara may have just created a difficulty in her relationship with Muffett - last coach who pointed out that he wasn't the one not scheduling ND had a year of nastiness from the Domers.

 

[UcMiami]

That's plainly false. ND had the #1 SOS by RPI and is top 10 in both Sagarin and Massey's SOS metrics.

Through yesterday, ND had played 12 games against the Sagarin top 25. South Carolina had played 13. And UConn? 11.

Yeah, but we are not talking about top 25 or top 50 by any measure - we're talking about the top 5-8 teams with realistic shots at FF and NCs - i am not expecting other teams to schedule the way Uconn does, because the conference schedule for Uconn is basically crap, but something more than one game.
ND scheduled Uconn and a semi-contending Washington OOC and that was it. SC did better with Uconn and a string of semis in those listed above. TX played Uconn, MsSt, Stanford, and SC a solid slate, UCLA did SC and Baylor good challenges for them. Stanford did TX and nada. Baylor did Uconn and a semi in UCLA and nada.

I just think it would be great for the game to have really interesting and highly competitive games at the very top of the standings. You want teams other than Uconn to get lots of press and stimulate coverage outside of CT, start home and homes between ND and Baylor, or SC and Baylor, or ____ and _____. Get a rivalry going that has a name other than Uconn attached to it and that has FF preview written about it.

 

[bags27]

Great point, UcMiami. Of course, what's energized the OOC schedule of MCBB and college football has been television, esp. ESPN, which has helped set those games up and supplied enormous revenue to the schools. If that's not forthcoming to WCBB, other considerations that tend to reduce competition may play disproportionate roles.

 

[TitleTown]

Dearest Muffet and Dawn. Every year your two programs have been tops in the nation. You like to go out there and beat up on the little guy and puff out your chest and enter the tournament as a #1 seed. Yet you refuse to play one another. Why is that? UCONN played both of you along with Texas, Baylor, Maryland, Florida State, etc. How many of those programs did either of you play?

I challenge you to schedule one another..... to play a game in the regular season.....

Ideally playing one another will help both of your teams.... so what say you?

In all fairness, South Carolina's SOS is only 4 spots lower and Notre Dame's SOS is only 5 spots lower than UConn.

 

[Orangutan]

Yeah, but we are not talking about top 25 or top 50 by any measure

I was responding specifically to the statement that I quoted.

Personally, I wouldn't mind seeing ND play one or two more games against perennial powers. At the same time, characterizing ND and SC as "beating up on the little guy" is unfair and inaccurate by any objective measure.

 

[UcMiami]

I was responding specifically to the statement that I quoted.

Personally, I wouldn't mind seeing ND play one or two more games against perennial powers. At the same time, characterizing ND and SC as "beating up on the little guy" is unfair and inaccurate by any objective measure.

Agree - so don't mind me! I think ND had a weaker schedule than usual this year but it wasn't in any way creme puff weak the way a number of teams went. I don't mind teams playing the Chattanoogas and Daytons of the world because that is also good for the game and good for those serious mid-major programs, but when you get to the 'eastern north shore of lake ____ state college for women' kind of teams ... And DePaul and Green Bay etc. are all interesting games. And scheduling more than the one made for TV challenge game is important.

And ESPN and CBS have both done a good job of trying to promote better games - need more of that but they have made a start.